I finally got around watching Project Hail Mary in an actual theater. Friends had told me that it was well worth the trip to see it there and to watch it in IMAX, but I screwed around too long and it had been downgraded to the regular screens.
Years ago I was an enthusiastic moviegoer, but now the allure of lying in my own bed with the cat and with my laptop on my stomach watching whatever Netflix dishes out is just too much to deny. The Barbie movie in the summer of 2023 was the last time I set foot in an actual cinema, but Project Hail Mary sounded interesting and I like Ryan Gosling (he does a good job considering most of the role is a solo act,) so I figured what the hell. I put on my pants and went to the movies.
The theater is in what used to be a very nice shopping mall attached to our convention center, but all the retail has surrendered and closed, leaving only the cinema and a half empty food court. It was like dropping by Miss Havisham's for tea. But the theater was very clean with very comfy chairs that reclined. I knew from bitter experience that seats like that are not meant for men as tall as me, but I didn't really mind and just let my feet hang off the end of the foot rest.
Better writers than I have already discussed how the experience of movie watching has declined so sadly. Let me just agree with what they've already said. The experience included 20 minutes of commercials which I ignored by playing crosswords on my phone, followed by eight trailers for upcoming movies. And what were the movies? Six sequels, one remake, and one (ONE) original new movie. Staying at home with my cat in the bed never seemed so appealing.
The movie itself was fine, not the best sci-fi I've seen but also not the worst. Lots of great big, very loud action sequences which frequently were so confusingly shot it was not clear what was going on or where it was located. My main criticism is that no movie needs to be 2 and a half hours long. Two and a half hours is a miniseries. Give my fucking bladder a break.
Recently I saw a story about some big shot from Sony rebuking theater owners at their annual meeting for a number of problems they had created for themselves and that were driving down attendance. He mentioned the commercials as a particular problem and I certainly agree. I do not appreciate spending $27 just be forced to watch an ad for eczema cream. Fuck. Off. But the Sony guy represents a problem equally as bad. Studios think milking the same old intellectual property for endless sequels and remakes is a safe bet. They're wrong. It's going to take more than yet another Spider-Man movie to get me to put my pants on again and struggle down to the cinema.
I think I'll just stay home with these guys instead:
I missed Project Hail Mary, films don't last long in the cinemas any more.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, experiences at the movies are usually going downhill. I was pleasantly surprised when some teenagers were silent and had their phones off during a movie recently, which made a welcome change.
Number 3 is holding a spade or shovel, but it is facing the camera at a weird angle, looks thin
Interestingly enough, the Sony exec I quoted mentioned that movie runs are not long enough.
DeleteI loved Project Hail Mary and saw it twice at the little cinema in town, but do agree that the "scooping taumoebas from the atmosphere of planet Adrian" sequence was quite long and noisy, but also harrowing, so I guess it did what it was supposed to do. For me, anyway.
ReplyDeleteAll the ads and trailers are annoying, as you say - making an already long film even longer. But what puts me off from going to the cinema more is that there are other people there!
I tend to wait until a film has been out for a couple of weeks before venturing out to see it. It's usually much less people
The face fluff and glasses make #2 look like a young Johnny Depp, which is off putting. I don't mind the ink stains on beefy #1 - they seem to be garden-related with the exception of the buffalo man on his thigh.
I thought the earlier action sequences were very confusing, but then, I'm easily befuddled.
DeleteI venture to the cinema occasionally - mainly to see Marvel films [yes, I am the geek who is actually looking forward to "yet another Spider-Man movie"], which always have so much going on they're better seen on a big screen The endless stream of adverts pisses me off, too - but then again, our cinemas (unless they are those posh ones like Picturehouse) seem to be a lot cheaper than yours - even in Leicester Square we never pay more than about £11 a ticket.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of geeks - I'll take nerdy-boy-with-glasses at #2, please. Mr DeVice has turned him down, so he's available... Jx
It was already expensive before I even bought some coffee and a cookie. Outrageous.
DeleteI went to see Wicked part one a year or more ago. I hadn’t been in a movie theater in eleven years. There was a half an hour of ads and two previews of actual movies neither of which I had any interest in seeing. That was my last time going to a theater. I will wait until the library gets the DVD and borrow it. I can pee at my leisure.
ReplyDeleteI love peeing at my leisure.
DeleteThank you for the update on the bad experience of going to a movie theater. All those ads and trailers would have had me demanding a refund. Even the two or three trailers on a DVD are too much.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Joshua Trees are now classified as weeds.
Anonymous, too
I used to love movies.
DeleteIs that real ?!
ReplyDeleteLet me wrap my lips around his cock and find out !
And luv me some desert cowboy :)
-CA jock
Real enough
DeleteI think I'll stay home with those guys too. I havn't been in a movie theatre since I saw Call Me Bu Your Name. BC-before covid!
ReplyDeleteAnd the second guy...I have had a cam session or two with him...He is hung and he knows how to use that thing...trust me.
Re: The second guy. You lucky piglet.
DeleteI refuse to go to the movies, not because of the ads and so forth but because theaters are gross. Maybe that's just here, but yeah...the pre-farted upholstery and the scent of other peoples' exhale isn't for me. I hope that cowboy doesn't get caught on that poky tree. I worry for him.
ReplyDelete